i i' 





aio/llto 

The Town^W 

Lei^nciotanford 

Junior University^( 




/Is 



AL'O ALTO, the town of Stanford University, is the one 
spot in California that no visitor can afford to miss seeing. 

Coming np from the south by the Coast Road a stop-over 
at San Jose should be made. The visitor can then take 
a local train to Palo Alto, spending the day there and at 
the University, and by a later train completing the trip 
to San Francisco in one hour, without having made any extra 
expense. Or Palo Alto may be reached as one of the delight- 
ful side trips from San Francisco. 



Full information concerning trip can be had Jroin PECK'S 
INFORMATION BUREAU, San Francisco and Los Angeles 




Inner Quadrangle, Stanford University 



PALO ALTO is located thirty-three miles south of San Francisco. The 
southern arm of San Francisco bay is three miles east of the town, while a 
distance of five miles west is the Santa Cruz range of mountains, two thousand 
feet in elevation. Midway between the town and the mountains is a r-ange of 
foothills. The ocean is eighteen miles distant. The town is situated in a grove 
of live oak trees, which give a beautiful effect. These trees dot the entire valley, 
forming one of its most distinctive features, and are much admired by vistitors. 
The houses are embowered in roses, jasmine and other climbing vines, and the 
.iigrounds adorned with palms and semi-tropic trees and shrubs and rare; Mowers 
"Ijthat blossom at all seasons of the year. Wild flowers are plentiful, and among 
'these the California poppy (the Spanish cup of gold) is a pariicuhir favorite, its 
ycdlow Howers never being absent from fields and byways. 

The climate of this valley is notably mild and even. In winter it is rarely 
''^cold enough to form the thinnest ice, and during some winters the most d-Jicate 
^.of plants and flowers are uninjured by frost. The rainy season is not unpleasant, 
I jas the rainfall is usually in showers, with perhaps two or three gentle storms 



lasting from two days to 
a week. The summer is 
free from extreme heat, 
the nearness to the bay 
and the ocean breeze 
serving to equalize tho 
temperature. This sec- 
tion is especially favor" 
able to those who need 
a mild climate, and the 
healthfulness and the 
inducement to outdoor 
living make life a pleas- 
ure to all. 




Stanford Memorial Church 




Arcade, Stanford University 




Visitors to Palo 
Alto are impressed 
by the beauty 
and substantial 
cliaracter of its 
homes. The aver- 
age cost of all the 
residences of the 
town is nearly 
$3000 each. A 
close study of the 
endless variety of 
styles to be found 
here i s a liberal 
education in ar- 
chitectural effect. 



.#, 




PALO ALTO came into existence as a result of the 
founding of the Stanford^ University.' The town 
site was platted in 1889 by Mr. Timothy Hopkins.' During 
the years following until 189(i, there was but a limited 
growth for both the University and the town. With the 
final completion of the endowment of thirty millions of 
dollars for the University, the town began its real prog- 
ress, and during each year since that date, more than a 
hundred thousand dollars has been expended in business 
and residence buildings. The town was incorporated in 
1894, and since that time it has acquired a municipal 
water system and an electric lighting plant. Sewers 
have been provided, extensive street improvements in 
the line of grading and paving are being made and about 
fifteen miles of cement sidewalks were laid during 1902. 
Municipal ownership of public utilities has been most sat- 



isfactory and profitable to taxpayers. The nearness of the town to San Fran- 
cisco and the excellent railway service provided by the Southern Pacific Com- 
pany have made Palo Alto a popular suburban residence place. The pleasant 
climate, the superior educational facilities and the religious and social advan- 
tages serve to make the town a most desirable place for homeseekers. No 
saloons are allowed in the town and all traffic in liquors for beverage is strictly 
prohibited by town laws and by a clause in the title deeds to property. 

The town has excellent public schools, with two fine grammar school build- 
ings and a large high school building. The high school is one of the best in 
California, and its pupils aie fitted for admission to a university course of study 
without entrance examinations. There are also excellent private preparatory 
schools— Manzanita Hall for boys, and the Thoburn School for girls. St. 
Patrick's Theological Seminary is one mile north of the town. 

The name of the town is derived from the lone redwood tree, the "Palo 
Alto " (high tree) that stands near the town. It was this ti-ee that gave the 
name to Senator Stanford's famous "Palo Alto Stock Farm." 




Main Entrance, from the Quadrangle, Stanford University 



THE Santa Clara Valley is the leading fruit producing section of California. 
Palo Alto lies encircled in orchards and strawberry fields. Peaches, apri- 
cots, pears, prunes, cherries, almonds, strawberries, blacicberries and raspber- 
ries are extensively grown, yielding crops that bring extremely profitable re- 
turns to the producers. Oranges and lemons are also grown here, but no effort 
has been made to cultivate citrus fruits on a commercial scale, since deciduous 
fruits are so thoroughly adapted to the section that they have been considered 
the most profitable products that can be grown. 

Perhaps the most successful industry in the valley is the growing of seeds 
for the general markets. Large areas are devoted to the production of onion, 
lettuce, radish and other vegetable seeds, while flower seeds are cultivated in 
large quantities. This valley produces three-fourths of the vegetable and flower 
seeds required by the marliets of the United States, and Palo Alto is represent- 
ed by a proportionate share of this industry. Grain-growing also foi-ms an im- 
portant industry, especially on the less valuable lands lying along the bay 
shore. 



'JpHE Leland Stanford Junior University was founded in 1885 by Senator 
■*• Stanford and his wife, in memory of their son, who died in March, 1884. 
The corner stone was laid May 14, 1887, and the University was opened to stu- 
dents October 1, 1891. The original endowment consisted of the Palo Alto es- 
tate, comprising- 8,400 acres; the Vina ranch in Tehama county, of 55,000 acres; 
and the Gridley ranch in Butte county, of 22,000 acres. Since the death of her 
husband in 1893, Mrs. Stanford has from time to time transferred other large 
and valuable properties to the trustees, but on June 1, 1899, the great endow- 
ment was completed by her with tlie gift of the entire residue of the Stanford 
estate, consisting of money, stocks, bonds and real estate, valued at $30,000,000, 
an endowment greater than that of any other university in the world. 

Since 1896 when the estate litigation was finally settled in favor of Mrs. 
Stanford, the construction of buildings as provided in the original plans of Sen- 
ator Stanford, have been carried forward as rapidly as possible. The principal 
feature of the architecture is the inner quadrangle, an open court 586 feet long 
by 246 feet wide, surrounded by a continuous arcade of twelve buildings. The 



general architectural effect is that of the old Spanish Moorish style. The build- 
ings are constructed of buff sandstone in rough-hewn, broken ashlar. The 
inner quadrangle is surrounded by an outer row of buildings, which includes 
the Memorial Arch, the library, the Assembly hall, the history, geology, nat- 
ural sciences and engineering buildings, and various others. 

The fine museum building will contain, when the addition now being built 
is completed, about fifty large rooms, and the many collections of curios are per- 
haps the most varied and valuable in California. A large gymnasium is being 
erected at a cost of a half-millioa dollars and is designed to be as complete as 
architectural science can make it. A second library building is soon to be con- 
structed at a probable expense of a million dollars, in which is to be stored the 
most comprehensive library in the West. 

The Memorial Church was built at a cost of over a half-million dollars, and 
its series of art-glass windows, its carven work and sculpture, its mosaics and 
paintings, and its great pipe organ are worthy of this notable structure, which 
has been pronounced by competent critics to be the masterpiece of architecture 




West Arch, Stanford University Quadrangle 



of this age. The Memorial Arch is the largest architectural work in the world 
excapt oie, — baiag ex333iel in size only by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris 
This perfectly proportioned structure, so thoroughly in harmony with the 
massive pile of University buildings, is one hundred feet in height, eighty-five 
feet in width and thirty-six feet in depth. The most striking feature of the 
arch is the frieze. This frieze is an allegorical representation of the progress 
of the world from the earliest historical times to the present. It is said to be 
the most perfect example of sculptural art executed in modern times. 




Frieze of the Memorial Arch, Stanford University 




Oiclnird Scene in the Santa Chira Vallev 



PALO ALTO BOARD of TRADE 

Fernando Sanford .. President 

Professor of Physics at Stanford University 

Geo. R. ParKinson First Vice-President 

President of the Bank of Palo Alto 
J. J. Morris .. Second Vice-President 

A. S. Ferguson .. .. Treasurer 
C, S. Downing .. .. .. .. Secretary 

H. W. Simkins ) 

S. W. Charles >■ Committee on Publicity and Immigration 

B. F. Hall I 



All inquiries in regax-d to Palo Alto and vicinity — the improvements, 
resources and prospects — will be answered promptly. 



